Cleopatra may well be the most famous woman of the Ancient Egyptian era. Hatshepsut, however, was probably even more significant. She was a pharaoh who reigned for twenty years, during the New Kingdom era. Her reign induced a period of immense creativity, but years after her death, monuments were defaced, and her name was erased from historical accounts. Civilization, however, hopes to change that, by including the leader in their newly-released installment of Sid Meier’s Civilization 7.
The Popularity of Ancient Egypt in Gaming
In games like Civilization, leaders have their own personalities which integrate into the game mechanics, offering significant power to the player. Each leader also comes with unique bonuses, which help the user to make strategic decisions that reflect the real leader’s impact on the ancient world. It makes sense for Civilization 7 to include Ancient Egypt within their starting leader pool, as they did with their previous installment of Civilization 6, especially when you look at how popular the theme is across other entertainment verticals.
After all, you have Total War: Rome II which features Cleopatra in the Imperator Augustus campaign, as the person who leads Ptolemaic Egypt. You also have Cleopatra: A Queen’s Destiny, another popular game based around the famous leader. In the world of iGaming, there’s the Cleopatra slot game, and Slingo Cleopatra, which are some of the many themed slot games that can be played online. Games like this tend to feature numerous nods to the famous leader, whether it is a depiction of her as a graphic, or ancient symbols with themed backgrounds and historical influences.
The popularity of games like this speaks volumes about the mystique of Egypt, and it seems that Civilization is looking to take things one step further, by exploring lesser-known leaders like Hatshepsut, in new and unique ways.
Civilization 7 Allows Players to Blaze a New Path for Ancient Egypt
Civilization has always done a great job at showing the real-life strengths of leaders, converting them into digital advantages when pursuing a victory condition in-game. With that said, previous installments have missed out on some of the real-life changes that cultures, like Egypt, have experienced.
Civilization 7’s new Ages System, while it might not have been popular with fans to begin with, does a great job of showing the complexities of history. Realistic simulations of history are now more apparent too. For example, with Hatshepsut, you can start in Egypt, before moving to Abbasid and then Buganda. As the Abbasid dynasty ruled from 1261 until the Ottoman conquest, it makes historical sense to provide this as a lineage of progression. Buganda also had interactions with Egypt in the 19th century through trade.
The great thing about this is that it shows the historical context of Egypt, allowing players to progress through the ages rather than being stuck with Ancient Egypt for the duration of the game. Players also have the option to shape history, by changing to other kingdoms during gameplay. Not only does this show how civilizations evolve, but it also pays homage to strong historical civilizations, like Egypt, presenting unexpected scenarios and choices while enhancing gameplay in whole new ways.
